Amtoudi
A Fortified Collective Granary On A Cliff Above A Palm Gorge, The Best Preserved Of The Anti Atlas Agadirs, Still Holding Its Storage Chambers And Reached On Foot Or By Donkey Up A Stepped Path · Amtoudi, Guelmim-Oued Noun
An agadir is a collective granary, built where a community could defend it, and the one above Amtoudi is the finest left standing in Morocco. Agadir Id Aissa sits on a cliff a couple of hundred metres above the village at the mouth of a palm gorge, a walled warren of stone storage chambers with their own cisterns, each family's bin closed by a carved wooden lock, reached by a stepped path that takes twenty-five hard minutes on foot or rather less on a donkey. A caretaker lives with it, opens the chambers, and explains the system that let a village keep a year of grain, oil and dates safe from raid and drought. Below, the gorge runs back into the Anti-Atlas between oleander and palms to springs and pools that make the only green in a very dry landscape, and it is an easy hour's walk upstream. This is a long detour off any sensible route, Tashelhit is the language, cash is the only payment, and it is worth it.
Palm gorge and the Agadir Id Aissa granary above it, about 75 km north-east of Bouizakarne in the Anti-Atlas, Amtoudi, Guelmim-Oued Noun, Morocco
The village, the gorge and the path are open always and free. The granary itself is kept by a caretaker who lives on site and opens the chambers for visitors through the day; there are no posted hours and no ticket desk, you simply arrive and he appears, and the expectation is a tip rather than a fee. If nobody is there, somebody in the village will fetch him, which is worth knowing before you give up and drive away. Donkeys for the climb are arranged in the village in the morning. Walk early or late in warm months, because the path is south-facing with no shade. The village guesthouses serve meals to order rather than on demand, so say in the morning if you want dinner. The approach road from Bouizakarne is surfaced and the last kilometres are narrow.